Olive Branch (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

HIDDEN HOMELESS

Kamloops seeing more seniors seeking shelter services

Feb 27, 2026 | 4:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — The latest Point-in-Time Count from the City of Kamloops shows at least 419 people affected by homelessness, an increase of more than 100 people from the year prior. While the PIT Count makes no distinctions beyond homeless or not, British Columbia and Canada has seen a sharp rise in seniors struggling to keep a roof over their heads and needing to enter the shelter system.

“We could easily double our capacity here and still barely meet the need,” said Out of the Cold Shelter Society executive director Renee Stein. 

The Olive Branch is a shelter within a shelter at the old Stuart Wood school site, run by the Out of the Cold Society. It provides 10 beds for seniors as a landing spot to work back towards housing.

“Kind of an exciting day today because we did have four seniors move into housing within the past week, so that has been very exciting. But we do already do have a waitlist for folks wanting to come utilize those beds,” said Stein. 

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Stein noted that 1 in 10 seniors in British Columbia are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness and for many it will be first time in their lives on the street.

“We’ve had social workers, we’ve had a counsellor, we’ve had teachers come into this program,” said Stein. “Not a typical demographic and that is really from people experiencing either an illness that has changed the course of their life and their housing, or maybe they’ve lost a partner and that has changed their income.”

The problem is not Kamloops specific, although Stein notes they could easily provide 30 more beds a night at their location downtown.

“We really need to make sure there is shelters like this wherever homelessness is an issue and seniors won’t do as well as others living in or staying in a regular shelter, so we do need to have customized shelters for older adults so they can get the supports,” said B.C. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt.

Levitt added that, as the population ages, the province needs to ensure homelessness, precarious housing and affordability is addressed.

“We do hear there are more people who are seniors that are using those services than ever before and it’s something that we should be having a mind on,” Levitt told CFJC News. “The office of the seniors advocate is looking at the issues around income levels right now and looking at homeless generally. And it’s something that we are certainly concerned about as our population ages.”

The Olive Branch has helped seniors as old as 90, with Stein reporting increases across the board locally.

“The numbers are astronomical and, like I was mentioning before, in a demographic that we haven’t seen traditionally entering homelessness before,” added Stein.

The Olive Branch has secured enough funding to ensure they stay open through the summer and hopefully longer. The current lease agreement for the shelter expires this October.